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<h1 class="">NI Muslim figure ‘really surprised’ by Cameron’s English language policy</h1>
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<img class="" alt="Prime Minister David Cameron talks to Imam Qari Asim (right), and Shabana Muneer, a member of Makkah Masjid Mosque's women's group, during a visit to the Makkah Masjid Mosque in Leeds, as he has warned that Muslim women who fail to improve their English language skills could be kicked out of the UK" src="http://www.newsletter.co.uk/webimage/1.7167379.1453159595%21/image/2631485133.jpg_gen/derivatives/articleMaxWidth_620/2631485133.jpg" title="Prime Minister David Cameron talks to Imam Qari Asim (right), and Shabana Muneer, a member of Makkah Masjid Mosque's women's group, during a visit to the Makkah Masjid Mosque in Leeds, as he has warned that Muslim women who fail to improve their English language skills could be kicked out of the UK">
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Prime Minister David Cameron talks to Imam Qari Asim (right), and
Shabana Muneer, a member of Makkah Masjid Mosque's women's group, during
a visit to the Makkah Masjid Mosque in Leeds, as he has warned that
Muslim women who fail to improve their English language skills could be
kicked out of the UK
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<div class="" title="by Adam Kula" rel="author">
<h4 class="">Adam Kula</h4>
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<a class="" href="mailto:adam.kula@newsletter.co.uk">adam.kula@newsletter.co.uk</a>
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</div></div></div><span class="">07:00</span><span class="">Tuesday 19 January 2016</span><div class=""><div class=""><div class="">
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<h3 class=""><p>A top figure from Belfast Islamic Centre
has rejected the idea that there is a “stay at home” attitude towards
Muslim women in Northern Ireland, as David Cameron yesterday faced a
barrage of criticism over a new drive to undermine extremism. </p></h3>
<p>Anwar Mady was reacting to the Prime Minister’s proposal to spend
£20m on a project aimed at improving the English of UK Muslim women –
with one possibility being that those who do not make the grade may lose
the right to stay in the country (see panel to the right).</p><p>Whilst
Mr Mady denied there is any major difference in the language skills of
Northern Ireland-based Muslim men and women, UKIP MLA David McNarry said
he doubts women are treated with equal standing among members of the
Province’s Muslim community – and condemned the level of spending
involved.</p>
<p>Mr Mady has lived in Belfast for the last 10 years, and used to be
the imam (the Muslim equivalent of a minister) at the Islamic Centre.</p>
<p>Today, the 42-year-old is its project co-ordinator, although he still
occasionally takes prayers on a Friday (that being akin to the Muslim
Sabbath).</p><p>Worshippers come from across Africa and Asia, and he
said the main language spoken among them is English – with religious
services mostly in English too.</p><p>He said: “Islam generally urges
education, demanding every Muslim, every believing Muslim – men or women
– go and seek education in the land, anywhere in the world.”</p><p>He
added: “However, what the Prime Minister said about the correlation
between uneducation, or low speaking of English in Muslim women, and
being recruited by Daesh or being segregated, I do not think it is
true.”</p>
<p>Daesh is a pejorative term used in the Muslim world for the Islamic
State group, and David Cameron has suggested that Muslim women with poor
English may be “more susceptible to the extremist message that comes
from Daesh”.</p><p>Speaking about the policy, Mr Mady said: “For me, I’m really surprised about this.”</p><p>He
said the number of Muslim women studying in Belfast exceeds men, and
that “in our small community” they have a number of female nurses,
engineers, and doctors.</p><p>“So how could I suggest that it’s a
segregated sort of community, who segregate women and ask for them to
stay at home, not allowing them education?” he asked.</p>
<p>Most of the 18 attendees at their bi-weekly English class are women “who are looking forward to developing their career”.</p><p>He said it “is not a good argument, to say that Muslim women are not having English language skills”.</p><p>He
added: “If there are communities of low English skills, they are men
and women alike. And there are some communities with good English
skills, men and women alike. I don’t see in my career that there is a
sort of distinction between men and women in this regard.”</p><p>Asked if Northern Irish Muslims may be susceptible to recruitment from Daesh, he said: “I don’t think so.”</p><p>David
McNarry said the decision to spend £20m on the language project would
provoke “considerable uproar”, and that the money would be better spent
on the NHS.</p>
<p>When Mr Mady’s suggestion that there is little gender segregation in
Northern Ireland was put to him, he said: “That’s not fully my
information. My information is that many Muslim women who are not
professional still play a subservient role in their homes in Northern
Ireland.”</p><p>Asked his source, he said it came from meeting and speaking to Muslim women.</p><p><strong>‘40,000 with no English’</strong></p><p><strong>Mr
Cameron said it was not acceptable that women in parts of the UK were
not allowed to leave their homes without a male relative, and faced
sex-segregated school governors meetings.</strong></p><p><strong>He said the “evidence is that there are some 40,000 women in our country who really don’t speak any English”.</strong></p><p><strong>He
added: “What we’ve said is that if people come here on a spousal visa,
to be a husband or a wife, we’ve now said they have to learn English in
order to get that visa. But after two-and-a-half years, halfway through
the programme of getting settlement, they should be improving their
English, and if they don’t do that then they can’t be guaranteed to be
able to go to the full stage and retain their visa.”</strong></p><p><strong>He then faced a backlash, with top Tory Baroness Warsi calling the plans “lazy and misguided”.</strong></p><div style="overflow:hidden;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:rgb(255,255,255);text-align:left;text-decoration:none;border:medium none"><br>Read more: <a style="color:rgb(0,51,153)" href="http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/ni-muslim-figure-really-surprised-by-cameron-s-english-language-policy-1-7167380#ixzz3xigeiYjg">http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/ni-muslim-figure-really-surprised-by-cameron-s-english-language-policy-1-7167380#ixzz3xigeiYjg</a><br></div><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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